Inadequately Prepared
Are you sick of reading my “Michigan Transplant” and “Weather” posts yet? Too bad. Here comes another! Just give me at least a year here before you start telling me to get over it, k?
Back toward summer’s end (that would be the end of summer in the Natural World - like August - not the end of summer in Texas which is like December), I remember emailing Kelly about winter clothes. And I remember her emailing back, telling me that there isn’t much need for them here.
I thought she was exaggerating. I remember wearing my winter coat when I stepping off the plane back in March! Surely if it was winter-coat-worthy weather in March, it would be even colder in January right? Wrong.
There are cold days. Days so cold the neighbors cover their gardens with comforts to keep them cozy. But those are the exceptions, not the rule. I never got the memo that the cold (and by cold I mean 50 degrees) days would be few and far between, intermixed with 70+ degree days all winter.
Today it was over 80. In January. My poor kids have been wearing the same few tshirts I let them keep out over and over again because I made them pack away all their summer clothes a few months ago! Duh. You don’t pack away your summer clothes in Texas, silly Nicki! Never mind that I just dropped a dime on entire new (winter) wardrobes for all of them in the last month, so sure was I that we had months of coldness (or at least coolness) ahead. Dumb.
So I’m learning. Slowly - very slowly and sometimes painfully - but surely! By this time next year I should have a firm grip on this whole Everything’s Different In Texas reality.
On another note completely, thanks for all the concern over my probable premature demise at the hands of Guitar Hero. You will all be happy to learn that I picked up Dance, Dance Revolution today so I can officially spare my swollen hands and instead dance my way to swollen ankles instead!
January 6th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Told you! Ha. There will be some more cold days, but they just don’t last here. We actually got quite a bit colder in Dallas than you did. It got in the low 30s last week, but we were 75 yesterday and today. It has been nice to have Lucy outside again though, so I will take the warm weather for a few days. Even though I know it is not going to be cold here for long, Lucy has 7 coats this winter. They were just too cute not to get, and most of them were on sale. Like I said on my blog though, I am working to not make silly purchases in 2008.
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January 7th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Haha! And as cold as it is here lately, I am all for few cold days (and we are in central IL).
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January 7th, 2008 at 2:05 am
Bwhahaha! That is the only thing I DO NOT miss about Texas… the God-awful heat! Idea situation??? Have 2 homes… one in the south for the winters (I hate MI winters!!) and one in the north for the summers. Fall and spring would be a toss up depending on who had the milder climate! LOL
We
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January 7th, 2008 at 2:06 am
Oops, hit send before I was ready ::blush::
We need to find the perfect state to live in. Where would that be?
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January 7th, 2008 at 6:48 am
Better than being in the cold and rainy winter of Holland…Good luck with the new game! I loved your Guitar Hero post
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January 7th, 2008 at 6:49 am
You’re still lucky you’re not here! It’s like seven degrees and that’s without windchill!
The perfect state to livein is Indana. It has technically good weather yearround ivebeen told.
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January 7th, 2008 at 9:52 am
It apprears that Everything is **insert word of choice** in Texas, eh?
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January 7th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Oh to have some 70s!! I’ll trade you a few of your 70 degree days for the -5 degrees we had last week! I thought my hands were going to be frostbitten before I got the kids buckled into their carseats!!! BRRRRR! It’s warmed up a bit this week - we’re at 45 today!! Our 3 feet of snow is dwindling!!
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January 7th, 2008 at 11:50 am
LOL! This is my third winter here and this is also the warmest one. It will get cooler…
It’s better than bitter freezing and slushy dirty snow everywhere
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January 7th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Yea..where is the best place to live??
I thought Michigan had crazy weather…I dont know…I kinda like the idea of 80 degree weather in the winter. Do you like texas better than Michigan? I live in west michigan and its so warm today at 50 degrees. No one can believe it…I even pulled out the flip flops. Snow is in the forcast for this week though…But would winter even be the same without frost bite and snowtubing? Hmm…But what about the summer in Texas? If winter is 80 degrees, is summer like 120?
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January 7th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Tara - summer isn’t as bad in Texas as winter is in michigan, for sure. You can still go outside and swim and stuff. I didn’t find it to be that bad at all. September was my hardest month because I was mentally ready for fall and Fall doesn’t happen in Texas until Decmeber! LOL I LOVE it here, would not move back to MIchigan for anything. I don’t miss the winters AT ALL, at least not yet. But everyone’s different. Some people just love the snow and I can’t stand it.
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January 7th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
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January 7th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
ok i just HAD to jump into this discussion, lol. the perfect place to live is southern California, of course outside of congested L.A. preferably but by the coast… of course if you can afford it!!! Santa Barbara (north of L.A.) is $$$PERFECT$$$ i grew up in so-Cal for 25yrs., we moved to WA state 3yrs. ago and now i find out we are moving to TX too!!!
i am CONCERNED about the heat/humidity, but people hibernate all fall/winter up here b/c of the rain/cold and i figure the same thing, at least when it’s HOT, kids can swim & stuff but in winter up here, kids are stuck indoors and DRIVE THEIR PARENTS CRAZY!!!! LOL!
WA is a BEAUTIFUL state, i have big, majestic trees all around me and i will MISS The trees DEARLY!!! but it’s not that easy to live here year round… i’m thinking if i can just keep this house AND buy a new house, that IS the answer!!! LMAO. this morning as i was taking my son to school, HUGE snowflakes were falling but then it quickly turned back into rain : /
my dh is going to be a teacher though, so we will be heading back to so-Cal in the summers FOR SURE, and back up to the NW too
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January 7th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
As a Wisconsin gal who once lived in TX….honey you do not need the winter clothes we think of. Enough said. I remember seeing people in parkas in October there, when I was still comfie in shorts.
DDR is awesome, a great workout. The kids beat me every time though!
Okay, I am begging my pals for a bit of help today and this week. I entered a poetry contest, part of my writing goal, and am asking you pop here: http://wannabeawritersomeday.blogspot.com/2008/01/i-am-entering-poetry-contest-yikes-and.html and if you like what you read, think about following the link at the end of the post and voting for me.
Thanks a bunch.
Your pal, Penelope
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January 7th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Make sure you have a great bra for DDR, its more jumping than dancing, and boy will the twins get sore if they are not well supported !!
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January 8th, 2008 at 12:58 am
[quote]The perfect state to livein is Indana. It has technically good weather yearround ivebeen told.[/quote]
No… For the perfect weather - Hawaii. Lived there 2 years. Beautiful temperate weather year round.
Cons: Too darn expensive, a person can get island fever, and the locals don’t want mainlanders there.
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January 8th, 2008 at 9:00 am
I love DDR! I wish I was with there with you and we could have a little competition. The heat takes a bit getting used to, especially the summers. The humidity here in TN suffocates you, however this week’s 70 degree weather has been great.
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January 8th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Yes, thats true! I was just in Maui for 10 days. The weather was perfect everyday! Even the rain was nice! Everything was expensive…but a person working at Mcdonalds made over $10 an hour! Here in Michigan I think they make less than $6…I could be wrong tho. We went all around maui and some very nice locals told us that most locals HATE maninlanders visiting. There were times where we got evil looks, and poor service because we were obviously tourists.
But I agree…Hawaii all the way!!
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January 8th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
As for the perfect state, I have to agree - Southern California. I lived in SoCal for three years and I miss it every day. Of course, that’s because I have to endure Arizona summers. Although the AZ summers are better than snowy winters, it’s still not SoCal!
Oh, and you’ve inspired me to give DDR a try again. I had just started to get into it when I blew my knee out, but I’m ready to jump back into the action!
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January 8th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
We had a heat wave of 40 degrees yesterday. Jealous? LOL
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